Familiar Faces (Troy)

[Cameron Wilder]

(I don't know why, but I needed these two in my life)

Cameron was starting to shift all too easily into weird hours in his schedule, and it wasn't due to getting gigs. He'd managed to line up a couple of shows- small things at smaller venues, mostly covers of Beatles songs and some Wrackspurts, depending on his audience, but he didn't publicize very well. Nina made one of them before she was off to Merlin only knew where, and his mother had been to a couple. He was pounding pavement trying to get these gigs, hoping he'd be able to open for someone who would attract a larger audience, but it was not easy going.

And so, he'd been bartending at Stu's for a few months now, and was becoming fairly good friends with Nathalia, who kept swearing she was only in it for the short haul, that any day she would put in her notice. Together they put in long hours, and stayed out until early hours in the morning, and Cam was forgetting what mornings looked like.

It was one in the afternoon when he walked into Joe's, in desperate need of a coffee before he could even think about running the errands he needed to run before heading out to visit his mother. He wasn't working or playing that night, so he promised he'd check in on her.

Rubbing one eye, he took in his surroundings while he stood in line (a very short line, as it seemed most people did this sort of thing much earlier in the day). It was then that he recognized a familiar face at one of the tables by the door, and he wasn't sure why, but once he had his coffee in hand, he felt compelled to stop by.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt. I don't know if you remember me, but we met at the auditions."

[Troy Wexler]

Troy had never been a morning person. Even under the best of circumstances, when he was doing well and managing his illness, he still often found himself awake until 3 in the morning or even later, composing or writing or just playing around on whatever instrument he felt compelled to play at the time. It had always driven Eddie nuts, but in the early days of their relationship, he’d always seemed to enjoy the passionate 2 am piano sonatas.

Now, of course, playing with the Wrackspurts, nearly every night was a late night. He and Ink were getting along famously, and sometimes they stayed up all night long, working out bass lines and corresponding rhythms to back the new songs the band had been working on. Often the two of them were up long after Nigel and Tobias had gone to sleep. But as far as Troy was concerned, bed time was just not rock n’ roll.

Last night had been another late one, of course. Ink had dragged him out to the club for a night of fun, which mostly entailed a whole lot more drinking than Troy had any business doing, while Ink partied with a group of women and went home with several of them. He didn’t even want to know what became of that.

As for him, he had tried flirting with a couple of guys, but nothing really came of it, and he went home alone after the club closed for the night.

Eddie would not have approved of all the drinking he’d done that night, but Troy kept telling himself he still had it under control. Even when he barely made it to the couch before passing out, he still believed he was doing fine.

But this morning’s hangover was a bleak reminder of the previous night’s over-indulgence. He really would have to be careful, but he also didn’t want to be seen as being “uncool.”

So he made his way over to Joe’s Coffee shop, where he was loading up on some caffeine, and trying to choke down a scone. He was in his own little world at the moment, and was a little surprised when he heard a voice addressing him.

He looked up, blinking once to clear his vision, and slowly remembered the man in front of him.

“Hey, yeah. I remember you. How’ve you been?”

((I hope you don’t mind I made some assumptions about what Ink would do—I can change it if it doesn’t work for you.))

[Cameron Wilder]

Cameron was definitely intruding on this guy's space... Trevor, was it? He felt awful for not remembering, but Cameron was much better with faces than he was names. It was too late to back away now, though. He was committed.

"Uh... good. I've been good. I heard you got the position in the band. Congratulations." He meant that with all sincerity, too. If Cameron could choose, he would not have wanted to dedicated the next few years to playing the bass. He was also much too young and inexperienced to have really had a shot at that role, but maybe next time something came up.

He hesitated, thinking he should leave, but he only frowned. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

[Troy Wexler]

Troy broke into a sleepy smile, as he fully remembered the kid from the audition. He wasn't sure what he name was--Calvin, maybe? But it didn't really matter. Even in his hungover state, he didn't really mind the company. He knew the kid was definitely straight, but he was still nice to look at.

Besides, there was something nice about having this kid think of him as something of a role model... even though Troy knew perfectly well that no one should be looking up to him.

"Yeah, I did get the job. Of course, now I'm sorta wondering what I got myself into..." he added with a chuckle. He nodded to the seat opposite him. "Sure, have a seat."